Plern Inthira

May 6, 2014: A Synopsis of IB Art HL Year I

 

The reason I decided to take IB art was, for the most part, out of curiousity; I didn't think that I was artistic by any means. I heard people say that it is a very challenging course and that was a major urge for me to apply. I actually grew up wanting to become a psychiatrist, but I have an irrational fear of blood and the thought of medical school scares the living daylights out of me.

 

Hence, I started pursuing art, first by photography. I thought photography was one of the easier forms of art and that is why I submitted a photography piece as my entry exam, because I didn't feel confident doing any other form of art just yet. However, I've also learnt my lesson the hard way that photography is actually not simple. The process of finding the right model, lighting, angle, and etc. are very challenging but mesmerizing at the same time. Also, after some serious thinking about art, I figured that since I like looking at beautiful things, I would be able to live and work with some forms of art for the rest of my life. And to be honest, I have learnt to appreciate art more after taking the IB art because I finally get a glimpse of how complicated it is in order to make a piece of art--for starters, the thoughts and idea behind the piece and the final craftmanship. I think that art is a very fascinating subject and I am sure now, after a year of taking IB art, that I would like to attend an art college. I am still thinking about the major I will take, which I am leaning towards graphic design because I would love to work in the magazine industry, but that could change in the future.

 

In the first year of IB art, I have completed a total of seven pieces of work, which are consisted of various different media, since we are supposed to experiment with them first in order to pursue particular ones in our second year. I'd like to say that the first year of IB art is mostly to prepare the students for the second year of IB art and for college.

 

I expect to build and complete my portfolio as well as improving my artistic skills in the second year of IB art. I also think that it will be harder than the first year because you have to be more independent and less relying on your classmates and teacher. Each student will have to choose a main theme for their series of work and start from there. I am aware that this is going to be a lot more work but I am also excited for it.